Houston Metro
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, branded as METRO, is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service in the city as well as most of Harris County. It also operates bus service to Missouri City in Fort Bend County and previously operated to Conroe in Montgomery County. The Metro headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston. In, the system had a ridership of, or about per weekday as of.
History
The Texas State Legislature authorized the creation of local transit authorities in 1973. In 1978, Houston-area voters created Metro and approved a one-cent sales tax to support its operations. Metro opened for business in January 1979, taking over the bus service owned by the City of Houston known as HouTran. HouTran was plagued by outdated equipment, infrequent service and a route structure which failed to account for Houston's rapid population growth.Metro's service area encompasses and also serves portions of an eight-county region with its vanpool service; the agency employs about 3,800 people.
Executive leadership
Tom Jasien is the current president and CEO of the agency, since December 2023.Previously, Thomas Lambert held the position for a decade, being formally appointed in February 2014, although he had been operating as the agency's interim CEO since the beginning of 2013. Lambert, a Houston native with a political science degree from Southwest Texas State University and master's in public administration from the University of Houston, joined Metro as a security investigator in 1979. He was named agency police chief in 1982, ultimately overseeing close to 100 officers, then moved into higher ranks of management.
The Metro Board has nine members – five are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by Houston City Council, two are appointed by Harris County Commissioners Court, and two are appointed by the 14 mayors of Metro's smaller city members.
METRORail
Metro's light rail service is known as METRORail.Metro offers a trip planner on its web site that provides information for public transit in the region it serves. It is multi-modal, combining schedule information for buses and rail. Riders enter their intended origin and destination, along with optional time, date, the trip planner displays, itineraries showing the stops, departure and arrival times, times to get from the origin to the destination and other information.
Today, the average daily weekday ridership is 59,753 and 18.3 million annually. On November 9, 2007, Metro surpassed its 40 million boardings mark, something it did not expect to happen until 2020. Notable records in ridership have occurred on the following dates:
- February 1, 2004: 64,005 passengers rode Metro during Super Bowl XXXVIII
- February 23, 2004: 54,193 passenger boardings were recorded, the highest weekday at the time
- February 27, 2007: 56,388 passengers were recorded the day of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
- February 4, 2017: 109,417 passengers were recorded during festivities preceding Super Bowl LI.
- November 3, 2017: 125,000 passengers were recorded the day of the parade for the Houston Astros, champions of the 2017 World Series.
Lines
| Line | Distance | Route | Status |
| Fannin South to Northline Transit Center/HCC | Opened January 1, 2004 | ||
| Smith Street in Downtown Houston to Palm Center | Opened May 23, 2015 | ||
| Smith Street in Downtown Houston to Magnolia Park Transit Center | Opened May 23, 2015 |
Metro currently operates three light rail lines: the Red Line, Purple Line and Green Line. The Red Line, the Authority's first light rail line, began operation on January 1, 2004. Now extended to 12.8 miles, the line begins at the Northline Transit Center/HCC, serving HCC Northeast and Northline Commons mall, and then continues south through Houston's Central Business District, Midtown, the Museum District, Rice University, the Texas Medical Center and the NRG Park Complex to the Fannin South Transit Center It is the second major light rail service in Texas following the DART system. The arrival of Metro light rail comes approximately sixty years after the previous streetcar system was shut down, which left Houston as the largest city in the United States without a rail system since 1990, when Los Angeles' Blue Line opened.
Metro opened two additional light rail lines in 2015, the Purple and Green Lines. Destinations served by these new lines include Texas Southern University, the University of Houston, PNC Stadium, and the Theater District. These new lines added another 9.9 miles of light rail. In total, Metro operates 22.7 miles of light rail service. Metro will reach approximately 18.6 million light rail boardings in FY17.
Two other lines were to be completed by 2012, but funding issues dropped the number to the northern extension of the Red Line and two of the original four new lines. The extension of the Red Line was opened on December 21, 2013 and the East End/Green Line opened on May 23, 2015. Due to federal investigations and the lack of funds, the plans may degenerate further. Three of the five lines were previously going to be bus rapid transit, but due to high ridership possibilities, the decision was made to make them all light rail.
Expansion
METRO put the METRONext Moving Forward Plan before Houston area voters in November 2019; voters approved the $3.5 billion bond by a margin of nearly two-to-one. Bonds issued will be used to extend existing light rail service. The Red Line will be expanded North to the North Shepherd park & ride, and both the Green and Purple lines will be expanded east and south to William P Hobby Airport, and west to the Houston Municipal Courthouse.A long extension or possible commuter rail line from Fannin South to Sugar Land and beyond has been studied since 2004. The route would parallel U.S. 90A in the existing right-of-way used by the Glidden subdivision owned by UP. In 2011, the Southwest Rail Corridor was proposed to connect Fannin South and Missouri City. This was not constructed, but the METRONext plan includes a similar route extended to Sugar Land which it describes as a "future METRORail potential partnership."
METRORapid (bus rapid transit - BRT)
The METRORapid Silver Line is currently METRO's only operational bus rapid transit line. It opened on August 23, 2020, and connects the Uptown area with the Northwest Transit Center, offering dedicated bus lanes over nearly the entire length of the corridor. The line spans 4.7 miles, offering a fast and efficient service that is part of METRO's broader effort to enhance public transportation in Houston.Lines
Planned and paused lines
University Line
The University Line, initially planned to begin construction in 2025 and open in 2029, was set to span 11.3 miles from Hillcroft Transit Center to Tidwell Transit Center, traveling through major corridors in central Houston. However, in June 2024, METRO announced the indefinite postponement or abandonment of the University Line due to financial and political challenges. This line was once a cornerstone of METRO’s expansion plans and was included in the METRONext plan for future development.Inner Katy Line
The Inner Katy BRT line, which was initially intended to run along I-10 from the Northwest Transit Center to downtown Houston, has faced significant changes. Due to funding issues and project re-evaluations, the line has been scaled back, with plans now calling for the use of shared HOV lanes rather than dedicated BRT lanes. The completion timeline for this line remains unclear, although $8.7 million has been allocated for FY2025.Gulfton Line (Silver Line extension)
The Gulfton BRT, an extension of the Silver Line serving the dense Gulfton area in southwest Houston, is also under review. While there has been no formal announcement regarding the line's construction status, project pages were removed from METRO’s website in April 2024, sparking speculation that the line may be delayed or cancelled.Expansion and future plans
As part of the original vision for METRORapid, several new BRT lines were planned to follow corridors originally designated for light rail transit. These include:- Expansion to Inner Katy and University corridors
- A new north-south BRT service along the western leg of Beltway 8
- A line bridging the gap between the northern terminus of the Red Line and Bush Intercontinental Airport.
METROBus
Metro's local bus service usually runs on city streets, typically stopping at every other corner along its entire route. The bus system is the most used in Texas and the Southwest region. Metro also operates express bus routes on the Houston region's freeway high-occupancy vehicle lanes, which stop at park-and-ride lots.Prior to the construction of Metrorail, Metro consisted of the largest all-bus fleet in the United States, only because Houston was the largest major city devoid of any rail transit since 1990.
Circa 1991 bus services for handicapped people were implemented.
In 2015, the bus system was redesigned, eliminating low-ridership routes in favor of a high-frequency, high-demand bus network. This change was accomplished without any increase in operating costs.
Service types
- Local: Most Metro buses typically operate on city streets, with the majority of routes serving several of Houston's major employment centers. The routes are grid-like "crosstown" routes that travel from one part of the city to another, typically without entering downtown. Many routes were truncated to METRORail stations to eliminate duplicate service.
- Express: A local limited stop service that serves key destinations but travel nonstop on freeway segments. They were formerly categorized as Limited prior to the 2015 restructuring of bus routes.
- Park and Ride : Metro operates express service between major destinations and outlying areas via high-occupancy vehicle lanes on regional freeways. Buses on these routes stop at park-and-ride lots, which also serve as transit centers.
- Bus Rapid Transit : A pilot program introduced on June 1, 2009, to provide faster service with upgraded buses and fewer, more modern stops to busy corridors, beginning with a supplement of Route 2, 402 Quickline Bellaire BRT. The second route in this system was a replacement of Route 33, 433 Silver Line Post Oak BRT, which unlike Route 402, utilizes an exclusive busway for a majority of the route. The next planned line was the University Line, which was planned to start construction in 2025 and open in 2029. However, in June 2024, Metro announced that they had abandoned plans for the University Line.